Is Ohio's Gubernatorial Race Already Over?

posted by Matt Bruning
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2 years ago

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSPD) -- It has been a rough couple of weeks for Ed FitzGerald.

The Democrat running to unseat Republican Gov. John Kasich is trailing in the polls and in the bank, lacks widespread name recognition, and is now seeing some top campaign staffers leaving.

"This obviously is not a good sign at all," said Paul Beck, a political science professor emeritus at Ohio State University.

He doesn't see the race being very competitive and believes the real loser is Ohio voters.

"There's some real important issues that surround the governor's race, any governor's race, and there are legitimate positions on each side of those issues, but that's not going to be talked about in this campaign," Beck said.

Right now, Beck only sees Kasich having a chance of losing if there's a big scandal involving him or his office.

The bigger problem for Democrats may be the ripple effect on the down-ticket races for other statewide offices and seats in the Ohio General Assembly.

"It could dampen down turnout of loyal Democrats who may just throw up their hands and say 'Look there's no contest at the governor's level and I don't care enough about the others or care enough about them to vote on Election Day,'" Beck said.

Despite all the negatives, Beck admits that anything can happen in politics, but at the same time a FitzGerald victory in November is a long-shot.